Walking Disaster (Rebirth)
by shadow kiti
Summary: Haven't been home in a while, I'm sure everything's the same... No reason of existence, just stepping forward one step at a time, yet what am I doing here and why is there this little light I'm attracted to yet something so forbidden? Puzzleshipping.


I AM TRYING THIS AGAIN! So those who have read this story for what little I have posted, this is one requested, pestered and potentially threatened if I don't have it done by her 21 birthday (Damn you, ffgirl, I will remember this!) but yeah! It's one that needs an ending and she has been spamming with Yu-Gi-Oh vids and stuff probably to get me to write this... One of them having Yami kissing Yugi. "Boko, it's telling you something!" Hahahaha... Yes, I need to give YGO some love too and hopefully my Bleach fic too D: I'm sorry! I've been working full time now and doing school. I'll admit I've been lacking motivation, but hey, I will try to make this the best I possibly can... and if it doesn't completely finish by Nana's birthday, at least she'll be content that I DID work on it! ...And can hate me later xD Enjoy~

ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE CREATOR OF YGO... And whatever bs that can potentially come out of the US _

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~Chapter 1~

An Only Child To Take The Blame

The rock bounced off his scuffed dress shoe, skidding further ahead of him, lost in the darkness as he stumbled along. His bloodied lip was still bleeding and pulsed in pain, the only thing that made him feel slightly awake besides his bruised side. His swollen left eye had already gone numb just like his mind that kept thinking back to that backstabbing cheerleader that agreed to go to the dance with him. The things he has done just to try to show some sexual interest, but it truly was not worth the wailing by a steroid freak jock.

Suddenly dizzy, he collided into the chain link fence, clinging to it for support. Looking down, he cursed. His button down dress shirt was now stained with blood and surely the loose red tie had darker marks caked with dry blood. Without a doubt, there would be a load of yelling for this by his father with the higher pitch tones made by his mother. He cursed once more, focusing on the drone of cars driving the intersection. Too much of a headache to go home and his friends had put him up to beaten to a pulp without even trying to help him (they were egging the quarterback on), he forced himself from the fence and stumbled along into a dark alley. Tripping over some debris, he fell quickly to the cold ground, though soothing for his lip, it reawaken the roaring pain from his ribcage. Hissing in pain with tears of frustration just barely held back, he curled up in a ball, choosing to crash here since it was better than his other options. Not like his body would get up anyways. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and gave into the exhaustion.

Yugi stepped out of his house. The strong sun on his face with the cool breeze made the perfect sign that today would be good. After all, it was the first day of summer vacation and soon it will be sweltering hot. As he dragged out the garbage to put out on the curb, slight movement from the alley close to his house caught his eye. Curious, he wandered over. A skinny little cat jumped out, taking off down the street, startled him badly enough to make him jump back and almost yelp. He sighed, regretting his overly active curiosity when he heard a groan. The form of a male curled up in a ball was barely picked out with the shadows. For a moment, Yugi thought it was a homeless man, which almost made him turn and leave quickly, but the clothes looked too nice for that.

Yugi cautiously crept closer. He could see part of the man's face, particularly a split lip that had swelled and bruised an ugly purple and the cut looked infected. Yugi bit his lip, deeply concerned. With a curse to the air, he poked him.

"Sir, are you alright?"

He only moaned, not fully conscious but turned his face more toward to Yugi, hearing him. Taking a breath, Yugi pulled the man by the arm and tried to lift him up so he could carry him. The man groaned in pain, making Yugi bite his lip. Giving a quiet apology to the injured person, he pulled him out of the alley. Luckily, Yugi's grandfather had taken to sweeping the sidewalk outside the store, probably taking advantage of the nicer temperatures before they skyrocket. Yugi called out to him which he looked up and smiled until he saw Yugi's burden. He opened the door for Yugi and with the best of his ability, helped take the unconscious man upstairs... and thus the store was closed for the rest of the day since he was exhausted and Yugi had to care for two men now.

Yugi didn't mind this. He had gotten use to it when Grandpa's body didn't quite agree with him in the morning. Busying himself to situate his grandfather into a comfortable position with some water by his bedside followed by checking on the unconscious man who strangely had tri-colored hair like his own, but the blonde bangs seemed more punk-ish and stylish than Yugi's style. First thing was first, Yugi got a clothe and fresh water and started to tenderly clean the split lip. The man's non-swollen eye shot open and he grabbed Yugi's wrist. He looked about him and tried to sit up then fell back in pain. Releasing Yugi's wrist, he tenderly touched his side then his lip. The opened crimson eye looked over at Yugi.

"Where am I? Who are you?" he asked, his voice cracking. Yugi bit his lower lip.

"You're at the Kame Game Shop. I found you in the alley a while ago so right now you're in my bed."

The man looked Yugi up and down, making him a bit self-conscious.

"You're way too scrawny to get me here."

"Well, if you must know, my grandpa helped me and right now he's sleeping off the excursion. I'm Yugi, by the way. I can get you some ice water, if you want. The cut on your lip looks a bit infected, but something cold might help the swelling."

He continued to stare it him, seeing Yugi in a different light. To him, Yugi appeared almost angelic with an open caring face and he looked quite cute while biting his lip like that... _wait, no_, he chastised himself, closing his eye. But he had never seen such genuine, heartfelt eyes especially towards him. He took a deep breath, trying to just up his jumbled thoughts. He must have gotten some head injury.

"I'm Yami."

Yugi smiled at him, which made Yami's heart stop for a moment. _Damn you, angelic aura,_ he thought to himself, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Well, despite how weird it is, I'm glad to meet you, Yami. I'll get you some water. Would you like soup as well? You look like you had a helluva night."

Yami glanced at his clothes. So much for the night of his life...

"Yeah... I'm hoping to not relive that one again." he muttered more to himself. Yugi eyed him for a moment without commenting. He smiled as if he hadn't heard the underlying depressed tone and went off to make something for lunch. Browsing through the medicine cabinet, Yugi pulled out some pain medication, wondering how much Yami might need to let him use rubbing alcohol to clean that lip.

Yami focused on the ceiling, unsure what he should do. He felt so disoriented and even in a stranger's bed. At least it wasn't some drunken mistake. Now that would be an awkward one. He gently poked at his swollen lip. The skin felt way too sensitive and the scab half healed despite who knows how many hours he was passed out in that alley way. The vibration of his phone startled him, the sudden jump causing pain to roar up from his side. He hissed and reached for his vibrating phone. Seeing Father on the screen made his stomach turn. He stared uncertainly at the phone until it went to voice mail instead. Part of him felt relief, but also impending doom. All the yelling that would result from not picking up and not having return home yet. Then Yugi walked in, carrying a tray with soup steaming from the bowl, a cup of ice tea and what look like pills with a smile that glowed but also seemed forceful.

"What's with the pills?" Yami asked suspiciously.

"That lip needs to be cleaned so I'm giving you pain pills to try to help cope with it."

Yami stared at him silently.

"Surely that isn't necessary..."

"Do you want a fully infected wound from sleeping in an alley with a split lip? Then you're going to the hospital." Yugi said while placing the tray down on the bedside table and crossed his arms. Yami continued to stare at him. Hospital meant parental units being contacted.

"Fine..." He gave. Plus there was something cute about this scrawny kid trying to be threatening. Yugi grinned and it made up for Yami's slight resentment to being forced into whatever pain this might end up being.

"Anyways, with that decided, here's something to eat. I'm going to check up on my grandpa for a moment so I hope you like it," Yugi almost sang out, happy to not have to fight the older boy. He pulled out a fold up side table and moved it over to Yami's side. Yugi noted that Yami still looked wary of the pills and maybe the thought of letting a stranger that's not a doctor clean his lip. Yugi pushed out his own doubt. It needed to be done. He turned with a smile to the older boy who surprised him with a small smile back. Grinning to himself, he went to look in on his grandfather. The elderly man was rolled on his side, looking miserable and hadn't touched the food Yugi brought up.

"Hey, Grandpa," Yugi called softly from the doorway. His grandfather looked over at him and his tired face brightened a little with a smile.

"Ah, Yugi. How is our patient?"

Yugi's lips twitched upward.

"Awake and hopefully eating like you should be doing. I'm going to try to clean up his lip. Do I need to call your doctor for you or would you rather some sleeping pills?"

His grandfather shook his head.

"I'll eat, but neither of those. You don't need to bother him, he's a very busy man and you know I can't always rely on medicine to get me through every time."

Yugi nodded at the same thing his grandfather tended to say, but didn't comment. He pulled a blanket out of the closet and laid it over his grandfather.

"Fine, but at least sleep then or I'll call him nonetheless. His job is to be of service so it's fine to call to make sure you're okay."

His grandfather muttered something in response as he shifted, getting comfortable under the weight of the blanket. Soon he was snoring loudly and Yugi couldn't help a smile at the typical grandpa. Returning to his room, he found Yami staring at the doorway. Yugi smirked.

"What, waiting for me? And here I thought you were going to hate me and rubbing alcohol," Yugi teased. Yami's face scrunched up in a grimace at the thought, making Yugi laugh. Yami looked at him with his one good eye then turned his face away.

"Thanks for the food and those pills are taking affect already. Glad to know it wasn't some date rape drug."

Yugi's face flared and he couldn't get himself to speak. The silence ran long enough that Yami turned his head to look at him just to see how badly Yugi blushed and flustered. Yami tried to prevent himself from laughing.

"I was joking. Damn, you really are an innocent one, aren't you?"

Yugi's blush deepened and he adverted his gaze with a pout. Yami chuckled.

"You're too fun to tease," he muttered to himself. "If you're using the rubbing alcohol, please get it over with now."

Still red in the face, Yugi looked at the older boy for a moment before leaving the room to retrieve it. He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and stopped to splash cold water on his face to try to lessen the red in it. He sighed, wondering how he got so flustered by a stranger in his bed. Picking up the rubbing alcohol once more, he went back to his room. Yami stayed silent as he poured a little onto a cotton ball. It barely touched Yami's lip, but his face scrunched up in pain and Yugi wondered if he would end up screaming out. The thought almost made Yugi laugh, but he bit his own lip to contain it and gently applied the rubbing alcohol. To Yami, the pain lasted a while after Yugi had tossed the cotton ball away. His lip throbbed and he had to resist touching it or gnawing on it to try to make it stop. He glanced at Yugi who was biting his own lip as he looked away from Yami.

"You sadist, my pain amuses you!" He accused.

"No," Yugi replied, not too convincing. Yami narrowed his eyes.

"Oh really."

Yugi glanced at him then quickly looked away.

"For the love of Ra, what's so funny?"

"Thinking a grown adult crying out in pain from just a little rubbing alcohol. It's funnier in my head, but glad to know. And for the love of Ra?" Yugi turned to him, his eyes still lit with amusement, but his facial expression more serious.

"I have Egyptian roots and you are a sadist! I'm in a sadist's bed..." Yami narrowed his eyes at Yugi again. "You didn't do anything to me while I was unconscious, did you? Was that really only a pain pill?"

Yugi tried to compose himself for a moment.

"You're hands aren't cuffed or tied up, are they? You're laying _freely_ in a stranger's bed and the only thing I've down to you besides moved your heavy ass out of an alley into a house was clean your lip. Are you saying that you're a baby and that little bit of rubbing alcohol is too much for you? If I _was_ a sadist, you wouldn't last long."

Yami gaped at him.

"I did not expect that from a _kid_."

Yugi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Seriously? I'm seventeen, thank you, and what's a little knowledge of BDSM going to hurt any."

Yami's eyes widened.

"What?! You're only a year younger than me?" he frowned, looking the boy up and down once more. Scrawny figure and a slightly round childish face with wide amethyst eyes. As if the black pants and loose band t-shirt made him seem any older. And BDSM? What in Ra is that? He opened his mouth to ask.

"Just think S&M, BDSM is the full name," Yugi spoke before anything came out of Yami's mouth. Watching the confusement and disbelief on his face was just as amusing. "Anyways, try to sleep some. If it gets worse, I'll see if my grandpa's doctor could take a look at it. I'm likely to call him tomorrow."

Yami nodded distractedly. Knowing that Yugi was only a year younger than him made something react. He tried to get his brain to shut off as Yugi left him in the room alone. Testing his side, Yami rolled and curled up, bothered that knowing he was attracted to this boy he had just barely met.

Yugi switched the closed sign to open and took a seat behind the counter. The store front had already been cleaned and Yugi had cleaned the shelves last night as his daily chores. Propping his feet on the spare chair behind the counter, Yugi flipped through a duelist magazine. He rolled his eyes at yet another article on Seto Kaiba and found himself a little bored about the strategy suggestions for new duelists. The bell over the door rang and Yugi didn't have time to look up when his name was yelled out.

"Yug! Where were you?" Joey yelled. Yugi was glad his grandfather was a heavy sleepy and Yami should be fine with the pills.

"Joey, keep it down. Grandpa is sleeping," Yugi forced a smile. Joey frowned, his face blanching as he tightly shut his mouth.

"Sorry 'bout that, Yug. Is he doin' ok?" he asked sheepishly. Yugi nodded.

"Yeah, just sleeping. That's why I didn't show up today."

Joey grinned his trademark goofy grin.

"Ah, Yug, you're such a nice guy! Well, I do hope he feels better. Are ya gonna hang out with us later, though?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Nah, never know what might happen. Maybe another time," Yugi responded. Joey smirked.

"Avoiding Tea, now, are we? I won't tell, but it's not the same without ya, bud."

Yugi's smile felt more strained, but he played it well enough for him.

"It has nothing to do with that. I already agreed to help with working the shop more so Grandpa can rest more. Makes it easier to be around to keep him out of trouble and before we know, I may have to run the shop entirely."

Joey frowned again and groaned.

"I can't believe we're getting that old... I hope he can hold out a little longer. It's nice to still play around as if we're kids..."

Yugi sighed.

"Well, we do have to grow up at some point. I just don't want to lose my grandpa just yet so I don't mind having to take over the shop if it helps him," Yugi murmured, putting down the magazine. Joey glanced at him.

"Can't argue with that. Sorry for the mood killer, Yug. I'll head out now. Tristan wants to go to the arcade and maybe pizza for the first day of summer. Hope it isn't too slow today."

Joey waved to him before leaving the store. Yugi let his smile slip off his face, feeling quite hollow. He had forgotten about the little incident with Tea trying to kiss him and the awkwardness after. He knew Tea since elementary and had at one point had a crush on her, but instinctively he pushed her away at that point and it had been too awkward to be around each other. Tristan and Joey caught onto the awkward feel, but not exactly knowing what happened. Luckily, it stayed between him and Tea and he truthfully didn't want to deal with it.

The last of the afternoon passed by slowly with hardly anyone else coming in. Students were partying much like Joey and Tristan were to finally be free of school for the summer. Yugi closed the shop early and quietly climbed the stairs. Grandpa snored softly still, the plate empty but for a some crumbs. Yugi peeked into his own room, finding Yami curled up on his side, his eyebrows scrunched together. He curled up tighter, murmuring something. Yugi touched his shoulder softly. Yami's eye flashed open, wide and wild as he quickly grabbed Yugi's wrist painfully tight. Caught off guard by Yami's defensive reaction, Yugi stood stiffly until pain registered on Yami's face from turning his body so quickly. He glanced at his own hand gripping Yugi's wrist so tightly. Shakily, he let go and wouldn't meet Yugi's gaze as he reposition himself, his right hand subconsciously touching his bruised side.

"Sorry," he murmured as Yugi rubbed his wrist.

"It's fine. You looked like you were having a nightmare. Next time I'll get something long like a ruler so I don't get hurt," Yugi said, turning his gaze from Yami. He bit his lip, but couldn't really think of anything to say to Yami, forgetting briefly what he came up for.

"I heard yelling earlier. Seemed like they're familiar with you. A friend?" Yami asked without looking at the other. Yugi nodded.

"That would be Joey. He is quite a loud person."

"Why do I get the feeling you didn't mention picking up a stranger to your friend?"

"More like a picked up a wild stray cat," Yugi muttered. "No, I didn't mention it. It would bring up questions I wouldn't be able to answer then he would get all defensive that I should call the cops or send you off. It's appreciated, but not necessary. You may be stronger than me, but you're also injured and better company than my friends at the current moment."

Yami finally looked at him, curious.

"A complete stranger that just potentially bruised your wrist for waking them from a nightmare is better company than your friends. Huh, how exactly does that work?"

"Just something stupid happened and it's been super awkward between one of my best friends and me. We haven't quite gotten over it, but it has affected our entire group, though the others don't really know anything. They're respecting that we're both needing space from each other. That's how it works. Ah, now I remember what I came up for. What would you like to eat?"

Yami studied the younger boy's face. He almost seemed sad, but just not quite. It actually bothered Yami, but he wouldn't comment.

"Make anything. You wouldn't know much of Egyptian style foods, so I'm fine with anything."

"You sure, I could look online," Yugi said, looking at him. Their gazes met for a moment and with a slight blush, Yugi looked away again.

"You don't have to put the effort. It would be nice to eat something of another culture instead. My father's girlfriend does well on my culture's food, but it's not the best. It's an acquired taste, really, and skill in comparison to some cultures. How is your grandfather feeling?" Yami asked, trying to release the tension in Yugi. Yugi relaxed a little, but not much.

"He's still sleeping, but I think he'll be fine by the morning. Just tired."

Yami nodded silently, gnawing on his lip, uncertainly.

"Anyways, I'll go make something then."

"Then can I challenge you to a duel?" Yami asked, nodding to the nicely placed deck of cards on the desk across the room that in truth he had just barely noticed himself. Yugi stared at his own deck for a moment, almost as if he didn't recognize it. Then he shrugged.

"Sure, why not."

The off energy from the younger boy actually bothered Yami as Yugi left to cook. Whatever it was that made Yugi feel this way, made Yami feel uneasy and a part of him wanted very much to fix it or make the younger boy feel better, to go back to that angelic glowing boy he woke up to. _Now I'm getting attached. Wonderful,_ Yami thought acidly. He glanced out the window, spotting a dirty blonde punk that he recognized to have fought even with the seniors. If he recalled right, that one was held back for disorderly conduct and missing too many days last year. By guess, that was Yugi's friend which didn't seem right unless the douche was bullying the boy, but with how quietly the tough guy left, that couldn't be possible. This year there wasn't as many fights from the punk ass duo.

Yami could faintly hear a knife on a cutting board, suddenly feeling drowsy again. _Those damn well better not have been date rape drugs... though I guess I wouldn't mind too much if it's him..._ His eyes started to flutter close and he curled up again on his side. A nice smell was wafting into the room, but Yami was deep asleep, soundly this time, when Yugi came back up with simple rice and miso soup for the older boy. Yugi raised an eyebrow at the sleeping Yami. He sighed and set the food on the desk and picked up his deck. He hadn't played in months let alone touched his beloved deck. Setting it aside, Yugi got out his homework and got started on it as he ate.

Somehow, Yugi found himself turning and watching the older boy sleep, curled tightly in a ball as if trying to protect himself. His eyebrows had knitted together and he was muttering in his sleep. Yugi rubbed his eyes, irritated at his own weird behavior; taking in a stranger instead of taking him to the hospital, and here he sat watching said stranger while he slept. Yugi forced himself to stop thinking and got up to pull out the spare futon. Stripping off his shirt, he slid under the cover and tried to sleep, tossing and turning and wondering what haunted the man in his bed.

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YEEEESSS! Finished :p This turned out longer than I anticipated but hey, I'm content and hopefully some others will be. Felt a little weak at the end, but that is what lack of sleep does to you. Comments would be awesome~


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